Chapter 35 · The Fire He Never Told Me

"Read the whole contract before you put her name next to yours, Knox."

The voice came out of the vent grille like the man was standing in the room with us. Low. Amused. Way too close for a stranger.

Knox went still. Not scared-still. Recognizing-still. His jaw locked so hard I heard his teeth grind against each other.

"Who is that," I said.

"Nobody." He didn't look at me. He looked at the vent like it owed him money.

"That's not nobody. That's a guy who knows your name and my transfer field in the same breath." I stepped over the spilled tray, glass and match residue crunching under my boot. "Knox."

The grille buzzed again, static chewing the edges of a laugh. "Tell her about the fire, Knox. Or should I."

Something in his face cracked open. Just for a second. Long enough that I saw it before he slammed the door back on it.

"Shut it down," he said toward the vent, flat, dangerous. "You don't get to talk to her."

"Funny. Screen says she's yours now." A pause, wet with static. "Or you're hers. Hard to tell from out here."

Then dead air.